diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 9133d07..5e8b4c1 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@
         "ts-node": "10.9.1",
         "typescript": "4.9.4",
         "uuid": "^3.4.0",
-        "yup": "^0.29.3"
+        "yup": "^0.29.3",
+        "zod": "^3.23.8"
       },
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=8.0.0"
@@ -20481,6 +20482,15 @@
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=10"
       }
+    },
+    "node_modules/zod": {
+      "version": "3.23.8",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/zod/-/zod-3.23.8.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-XBx9AXhXktjUqnepgTiE5flcKIYWi/rme0Eaj+5Y0lftuGBq+jyRu/md4WnuxqgP1ubdpNCsYEYPxrzVHD8d6g==",
+      "dev": true,
+      "funding": {
+        "url": "https://github.com/sponsors/colinhacks"
+      }
     }
   },
   "dependencies": {
@@ -35981,6 +35991,12 @@
         "synchronous-promise": "^2.0.13",
         "toposort": "^2.0.2"
       }
+    },
+    "zod": {
+      "version": "3.23.8",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/zod/-/zod-3.23.8.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-XBx9AXhXktjUqnepgTiE5flcKIYWi/rme0Eaj+5Y0lftuGBq+jyRu/md4WnuxqgP1ubdpNCsYEYPxrzVHD8d6g==",
+      "dev": true
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 13b285c..340ba7a 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -88,7 +88,8 @@
     "ts-node": "10.9.1",
     "typescript": "4.9.4",
     "uuid": "^3.4.0",
-    "yup": "^0.29.3"
+    "yup": "^0.29.3",
+    "zod": "^3.23.8"
   },
   "config": {
     "commitizen": {
diff --git a/src/instantiation/DomainObject.test.ts b/src/instantiation/DomainObject.test.ts
index ea45123..082e4ea 100644
--- a/src/instantiation/DomainObject.test.ts
+++ b/src/instantiation/DomainObject.test.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 import Joi from 'joi';
 import { v4 as uuid } from 'uuid';
 import * as yup from 'yup';
+import { z } from 'zod';
 
 import { DomainObject } from './DomainObject';
 import { HelpfulJoiValidationError } from './validate/HelpfulJoiValidationError';
 import { HelpfulYupValidationError } from './validate/HelpfulYupValidationError';
+import { HelpfulZodValidationError } from './validate/HelpfulZodValidationError';
 
 describe('DomainObject', () => {
   describe('domain modeling use cases', () => {
@@ -155,6 +157,45 @@ describe('DomainObject', () => {
       });
     });
 
+    describe('Zod schema', () => {
+      interface RocketShip {
+        serialNumber: string;
+        fuelQuantity: number;
+        passengers: number;
+      }
+      const schema = z.object({
+        serialNumber: z.string(),
+        fuelQuantity: z.number(),
+        passengers: z.number().max(42),
+      });
+      class RocketShip extends DomainObject<RocketShip> implements RocketShip {
+        public static schema = schema;
+      }
+      it('should not throw error if when valid', () => {
+        const ship = new RocketShip({
+          serialNumber: uuid(),
+          fuelQuantity: 9001,
+          passengers: 21,
+        });
+        expect(ship).toBeInstanceOf(RocketShip); // sanity check
+      });
+      it('should throw a helpful error when does not pass schema', () => {
+        try {
+          // eslint-disable-next-line no-new
+          new RocketShip({
+            serialNumber: '__SOME_UUID__',
+            fuelQuantity: 9001,
+            passengers: 50,
+          });
+          throw new Error('should not reach here');
+        } catch (error) {
+          if (!(error instanceof Error)) throw error;
+          expect(error).toBeInstanceOf(HelpfulZodValidationError);
+          expect(error.message).toMatchSnapshot();
+        }
+      });
+    });
+
     describe('hydration', () => {
       it('should hydrate nested domain objects', () => {
         // define the plant pot
diff --git a/src/instantiation/DomainObject.ts b/src/instantiation/DomainObject.ts
index f28bf6e..3a9e680 100644
--- a/src/instantiation/DomainObject.ts
+++ b/src/instantiation/DomainObject.ts
@@ -44,9 +44,9 @@ export class DomainObject<T extends Record<string, any>> {
    *
    * When set, will be used to validate the properties passed into the constructor at runtime (i.e., during instantiation)
    *
-   * Supports [`Joi`](https://github.com/sideway/joi) and [`Yup`](https://github.com/jquense/yup)
+   * Supports [`Zod`](https://github.com/colinhacks/zod), [`Joi`](https://github.com/sideway/joi), and [`Yup`](https://github.com/jquense/yup)
    */
-  public static schema?: SchemaOptions;
+  public static schema?: SchemaOptions<any>; // todo: work around typescript's "static members cant reference class type parameters"
 
   /**
    * DomainObject.nested
diff --git a/src/instantiation/__snapshots__/DomainObject.test.ts.snap b/src/instantiation/__snapshots__/DomainObject.test.ts.snap
index cca473a..d739053 100644
--- a/src/instantiation/__snapshots__/DomainObject.test.ts.snap
+++ b/src/instantiation/__snapshots__/DomainObject.test.ts.snap
@@ -31,3 +31,27 @@ Props Provided:
   "passengers": 50
 }"
 `;
+
+exports[`DomainObject validation Zod schema should throw a helpful error when does not pass schema 1`] = `
+"Errors were found while validating properties for domain object RocketShip.:
+[
+  {
+    "code": "too_big",
+    "maximum": 42,
+    "type": "number",
+    "inclusive": true,
+    "exact": false,
+    "message": "Number must be less than or equal to 42",
+    "path": [
+      "passengers"
+    ]
+  }
+]
+
+Props Provided:
+{
+  "serialNumber": "__SOME_UUID__",
+  "fuelQuantity": 9001,
+  "passengers": 50
+}"
+`;
diff --git a/src/instantiation/validate/HelpfulJoiValidationError.ts b/src/instantiation/validate/HelpfulJoiValidationError.ts
index 7090d60..7605e72 100644
--- a/src/instantiation/validate/HelpfulJoiValidationError.ts
+++ b/src/instantiation/validate/HelpfulJoiValidationError.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
-// eslint-disable-next-line import/no-extraneous-dependencies
-import Joi from 'joi';
-
 // only importing types  > dev dep
+import type { ValidationError } from 'joi';
 
 interface HelpfulJoiValidationErrorDetail {
   message: string;
@@ -20,7 +18,7 @@ export class HelpfulJoiValidationError extends Error {
     props,
     domainObject,
   }: {
-    error: Joi.ValidationError;
+    error: ValidationError;
     props: any;
     domainObject: string;
   }) {
diff --git a/src/instantiation/validate/HelpfulYupValidationError.ts b/src/instantiation/validate/HelpfulYupValidationError.ts
index 494868f..b8bb8d8 100644
--- a/src/instantiation/validate/HelpfulYupValidationError.ts
+++ b/src/instantiation/validate/HelpfulYupValidationError.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
-// eslint-disable-next-line import/no-extraneous-dependencies
-import { ValidationError } from 'yup';
-
 // only importing types  > dev dep
+import type { ValidationError } from 'yup';
 
 export class HelpfulYupValidationError extends Error {
   public details: string[];
diff --git a/src/instantiation/validate/HelpfulZodValidationError.ts b/src/instantiation/validate/HelpfulZodValidationError.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..768b7c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/instantiation/validate/HelpfulZodValidationError.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+// only importing types  > dev dep
+import type { ZodError, ZodIssue } from 'zod';
+
+export class HelpfulZodValidationError extends Error {
+  public details: ZodIssue[];
+
+  public props: any;
+
+  public domainObject: string;
+
+  constructor({
+    error,
+    props,
+    domainObject,
+  }: {
+    error: ZodError;
+    props: any;
+    domainObject: string;
+  }) {
+    const message = `
+Errors were found while validating properties for domain object ${domainObject}.:
+${JSON.stringify(error.errors, null, 2)}
+
+Props Provided:
+${JSON.stringify(props, null, 2)}
+    `.trim();
+    super(message);
+
+    this.details = error.errors;
+    this.props = props;
+    this.domainObject = domainObject;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/instantiation/validate/validate.ts b/src/instantiation/validate/validate.ts
index a08570c..1b37d48 100644
--- a/src/instantiation/validate/validate.ts
+++ b/src/instantiation/validate/validate.ts
@@ -1,20 +1,27 @@
+// only importing types -> dev dep
 import type { Schema as JoiSchema } from 'joi';
 import type { ValidationError, Schema as YupSchema } from 'yup';
+import type { ZodError, ZodSchema } from 'zod';
 
-// only importing types -> dev dep
 import { HelpfulJoiValidationError } from './HelpfulJoiValidationError';
 import { HelpfulYupValidationError } from './HelpfulYupValidationError';
+import { HelpfulZodValidationError } from './HelpfulZodValidationError';
 
-export type SchemaOptions = YupSchema<any> | JoiSchema;
+export type SchemaOptions<T> = ZodSchema<T> | YupSchema<T> | JoiSchema;
+
+const isJoiSchema = (schema: SchemaOptions<any>): schema is JoiSchema => {
+  if ((schema as JoiSchema).$) return true; // joi schemas have `$`, zod and yup do not
+  return false;
+};
 
-const isJoiSchema = (schema: SchemaOptions): schema is JoiSchema => {
-  if ((schema as JoiSchema).$) return true; // joi schemas have `$`, yup does not
+const isZodSchema = (schema: SchemaOptions<any>): schema is ZodSchema<any> => {
+  if ((schema as ZodSchema<any>)._refinement) return true; // only zod schemas have _refinement
   return false;
 };
 
-const isYupSchema = (schema: SchemaOptions): schema is YupSchema<any> => {
-  // for now, since we only support two options, if its not a joi schema, it must be a yup schema
-  return !isJoiSchema(schema);
+const isYupSchema = (schema: SchemaOptions<any>): schema is YupSchema<any> => {
+  if ((schema as YupSchema<any>).isValidSync) return true; // only yup schemas have this property
+  return false;
 };
 
 export const validate = ({
@@ -23,7 +30,7 @@ export const validate = ({
   props,
 }: {
   domainObjectName: string;
-  schema: SchemaOptions;
+  schema: SchemaOptions<any>;
   props: any;
 }): void => {
   if (isJoiSchema(schema)) {
@@ -49,4 +56,18 @@ export const validate = ({
       throw error; // otherwise throw the error we got
     }
   }
+  if (isZodSchema(schema)) {
+    try {
+      schema.parse(props);
+    } catch (error) {
+      if (!(error instanceof Error)) throw error;
+      if (error.constructor.name === 'ZodError')
+        throw new HelpfulZodValidationError({
+          domainObject: domainObjectName,
+          error: error as ZodError,
+          props,
+        }); // if we got a yup validation error, make it more helpful
+      throw error; // otherwise throw the error we got
+    }
+  }
 };